Machines such as motor graders, wheel loaders, excavators, backhoes, and material handlers or the like typically perform operations associated with industries such as mining, construction, farming, transportation, or the like. Implements associated with these machines may be employed for a variety of tasks, including, for example, loading, compacting, lifting, leveling, and brushing, and include, for example, buckets, compactors, forked lifting devices, brushes, grapples, cutters, shears, blades, breakers/hammers, augers, and others.
Obstructions in an operator's view of the areas surrounding the machine, as well as an associated implement, can inhibit efficient and effective operation of the machine. As a result, it is desirable to provide the operator with optimal visibility of the surrounding terrain and objects about the machine. The operator's information concerning the surrounding terrain and objects about the machine may be obtained from remote information, as from others not seated in the machine, or from a direct sightline, an indirect sightline, as through mirrors or the like, and auxiliary equipment, as from associated cameras or the like.
Many of the conventional machines available as of the submission of this disclosure do not provide desired visibility without the use of auxiliary equipment to supplement the operator's direct or indirect sightline. With motor graders and other machines that include rear mounted engines, for example, a considerable volume of equipment is placed in the rearwardly disposed engine compartment. Such equipment may include, for example, a hydraulic system including one or more pumps and a sump, an engine, a transmission, a cooling system, and aftertreatment equipment, such as sound or pollution dissipating equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,844 to Stauffer discloses a motor grader that includes a plurality of windows to provide the operator a view out of all sides of the cab 22. In view of the size of the engine compartment housing 24, however, even if the entire rear of the cab was open, a seated operator could not see a person standing behind the machine, either directly or through the use of mirrors. Although a hydraulic oil cooler 37 appears to be provided external to the engine compartment housing, the remaining equipment disposed within the housing, including the hydraulic oil reservoir or sump 102, the pump 34, the engine, the transmission 35, and the transfer case 39 result in a relatively large and obstructive engine compartment housing 24.
Auxiliary equipment may include, for example, strategically placed cameras and monitors. Such auxiliary equipment, however, can not only be a considerable initial investment, maintenance and upkeep may likewise prove to be expensive, particularly because such equipment is typically operated and maintained in outdoor, sometimes, harsh environments. Additionally, such machinery often operates in rugged environments that could dirty and damage sophisticated electrical equipment. If a camera lens is covered with dirt, or impacted with a rock, for example, the result could be an auxiliary system that is no longer operative to meet the demands of the operator. Moreover, the size and efficient operation of the various components within the engine compartment generally make the reduction of the size of the engine housing itself prohibitive.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems and shortcomings of the art as set forth above.